You’re a professional. You can handle a good-looking ex-groom.I was still so furious at him though! Weddings were my happy place, bridezillas notwithstanding, and now I had to deal with Evan and his cockiness and male entitlement imposing themselves on this beautiful wedding.
Calm and professional, I pep-talked myself as I opened the bathroom door.
“Ivy.”
Evan clapped a hand over my mouth before I could scream. I swiped at him. He grabbed my wrist.
“I should have known you would be difficult to deal with,” he said in that deep voice.
“Me?” I hissed at him. “I’m not the one showing up to your work and slapping the dicks out of your mouth!”
His nostrils flared. “For someone who’s supposed to be putting on a high-class wedding, you sure do have a filthy mouth.”
“And for someone who’s supposed to be the best hedge fund manager in the twenty-first century, you sure are stupid.”
Evan smirked. “Heh. You were researching me.”
“Opposition research,” I spat back.
“You like me,” he said.
“I hate you.”
“Please,” he snorted. “All women want me.”
“Not this one,” I said, crossing my arms. “Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not impressed by your money. I get a parade of billionaires and their bridezillas through my wedding sketchbook every month. You’re not special.”
“I’m the man of honor,” he said in a mocking tone that made me want to punch him. “So you’re going to have to deal with me and cater to my every whim.”
“As if! It’s the bride’s day and the bride’s rules,” I countered.
“And that’s the problem, isn’t it?” he said, leaning against the wall, one hand on either side of my head.
Refusing to be intimidated, I put my hand on my hips and glared back at him.
“The bride gets whatever she wants—even if it’s sleeping with half the wedding party. I’m wondering if Camilla wasn’t right and you did know she was cheating.”
“I would never! I hate cheaters. Camilla is a horrible person, and you shouldn’t ever forgive her,” I said to him. “Marriage is a sacred institution, and I love a wedding more than Christmas!”
“That’s too bad because I hate weddings. I didn’t want to be in this wedding party, yet I am forced to because Camilla is trying to nuke my entire life!” He shook his head. “You’re such a naïve little girl if you still believe in the magic of weddings after last weekend.”
“I do still believe,” I said stubbornly. “Weddings are special; they bring together two people in love and create a new family.”
“Bullshit! They are an excuse for sociopathic women to exert control over the people around them.”
“If that’s your philosophy, then I don’t want you anywhere close to this wedding,” I snapped, not caring if I hurt Evan’s feelings.
His lip curled back as he pushed off the wall.
“I guess this is going to be a miserable experience for both of us then.”
10
Evan
“That’s just my luck,” I fumed as Ivy brushed past me to return to the dining room. I watched her, her curvy ass bouncing as she walked in her ankle boots. I shook my head. I couldn’t be attracted to her. She was my half sister’s wedding planner. Besides, I wasn’t here for Ivy. I needed to make nice with Teddy so he would put in a good word with his Uncle Orson.
Ivy studiously ignored me when I sat back down.
